A new fast-track resource consent application has been lodged for Johnsonville Mall, according to Wellington Deputy Mayor Ben McNulty, raising fresh hopes that the northern suburb’s long-delayed town centre redevelopment could finally move ahead.
McNulty, who represents the Takapu/Northern Ward, announced on Wednesday 21 October that shopping centre owner Stride had made the application. He described it as the closest Wellington City Council and the property company had worked together on the project.
That matters in Johnsonville, where hopes of a rebuilt shopping centre have repeatedly been raised and disappointed. The mall occupies a large part of the commercial heart of the suburb, close to major roads and the Johnsonville railway terminus. What happens there will affect people who shop, work and travel through the town centre.
McNulty acknowledged the reason for caution. Earlier redevelopment attempts had been affected by changing economic conditions, he said, and residents were likely to be sceptical after years of stop-start plans.
He said he could not disclose the details while the project went through the fast-track process, but looked forward to the plans being made public later this year.
The announcement is a step in the consenting process, not a construction date. Wellington News has not independently examined the new application, and the design, consent outcome and building timetable have not yet been established.
Johnsonville has seen substantial proposals before. In 2022, the Ministry for the Environment recorded an earlier fast-track referral for a 4.1-hectare site bounded by Johnsonville, Broderick and Moorefield roads. That proposal envisaged replacing existing mall buildings and a supermarket with a mixed-use development including a new supermarket, retail and hospitality spaces, a public plaza and around 130 apartments.
Those were details of an earlier scheme, not a description of what Stride is now seeking consent to build. Residents will need to see the new plans before they can judge their likely effects on shops, housing, streets and public transport.
The frustration is longstanding. As far back as 2018, the Johnsonville Community Association urged the mall’s owner to ‘get on with it or sell to somebody who can.’
This week’s development gives residents a new reason to watch the site closely. The next test will be the release of actual plans, followed by whether the project secures consent and moves from drawings to construction.
